Is Euthanasia Ethical?
Euthanasia is one of the most acute and uncomfortable contemporary
problems in medical ethics. Is Euthanasia Ethical? The case for euthanasia
rests on one main fundamental moral principle: mercy.
It is not a new issue; euthanasia has been discussed-and practised-in
both Eastern and Western cultures from the earliest historical times to the
present. But because of medicine's new technological capacities to extend life,
the problem is much more pressing than it has in the past, and both the
discussion and practice of euthanasia are more widespread.
Euthanasia is a way of granting mercy-both by direct killing and by
letting the person die. This principle of mercy establishes two component
duties: 1. the duty not to cause further pain or suffering; and 2. the duty to
act to end pain or suffering already occurring. Under the first of these, for a
physician or other caregiver to extend mercy to a suffering patient may mean to
refrain from procedures that cause further suffering-provided, of course, that
the treatment offers the patient no overriding benefits. The physician must
refrain from ordering painful tests, therapies, or surgical procedures when they
cannot alleviate suffering or contribute to a patient's improvement or cure.
Perhaps the most familiar contemporary medical example is the treatment of burn
victims when survival is unprecedented; if with the treatments or without them
the chances of the patient's survival is nil, mercy requires the physician not
to impose the debridement treatments , which are excruciatingly painful, when
they can provide the patie...
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...rom inattention, malevence, fears of addiction, or divergent priorities
in resources.
In all of these cases, of course, the patient can be sedated into
unconsciousness; this does indeed end the pain. But in respect of the patient's
experience, this is tantamount to causing death: the patient has no further
conscious experience and thus can achieve no goods, experience no significant
communication, satisfy no goals. Furthermore, adequate sedation, by depressing
respiratory function, may hasten death. Though it is always technically
possible to achieve relief from pain, at least when the appropriate resources
are available, the price may be functionally and practically equivalent, at
least from the patient's point of view, to death. And this, of course, is just
what the issue of euthanasia is about.
The boundaries of right to die with dignity are hard to determine. Keeping the terminal patient comfortable is the purpose of comfort care, however there could be a very thin line between what we consider terminal sedation and euthanasia. In theory, comfort care is quite different from euthanasia. Keeping the patient comfortable and letting the nature take its course is at the core of comfort measures (Gamliel, 2012). Yet, the line between keeping comfortable and facilitating death is often blurry. Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering (Gamliel, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the ethical issue of keeping comfortable vs. hastening death, and the ethical principles involved. Facilitating or hastening death is considered unethical or even illegal.
The prima facie duties that William David Ross has listed include duties of fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, and non-maleficence. Duties of fidelity and reparation rest on previous acts that one has performed, and acting on these duties are acts such as promise-keeping (duties of fidelity) and making amends for previous wrongful acts (duties of reparation), while duties of gratitude rest on previous acts that others have performed. There is a duty associated with the distribution of pleasure or good regardless of its recipient, and this is termed as duties of justice. An additional duty rests on the mere fact that there are other beings in this world to whom we can be of assistance to: duties of beneficence. Duties of self-improvement claim that there are intrinsic moral reasons for one to improve oneself and finally, duties of non-maleficence states that there are intrinsic moral reasons to not harm others. Duties are placed on the list only when they have been judged to be basic moral reaso...
Terminally ill patients deserve the right to have a dignified death. These patients should not be forced to suffer and be in agony their lasting days. The terminally ill should have this choice, because it is the only way to end their excruciating pain. These patients don’t have
acting completely in the patients interest and each of them are committing these actions to
didn't want to wake me. Then he would begin to howl, like a dog. When
Pain and suffering is one reason people support euthanasia. “Pain-relief treatment could or even would shorten life”. (32) Yet, it is justified if the purpose is to comfort and relieve pain. Providing adequate amount of pain-relief treatment is also a way to extend life. It lessens the patient’s distress psychologically and physically. (Somerville) Going beyond the limit by overdosing the patient will poison the body and hastens death. In this case, it is unacceptable because its intention is to kill a person’s life and not to comfort.
Bonds and Equities Defining Bonds and Equities Bonds are certificates of obligation or indebtedness, issued by governments and companies to raise funds repayable at interest over relatively long periods. Equities are investments exercised by purchasing a share in the ownership of a corporation; and are more commonly called stocks or shares (as in the stock market or share market). Bonds have a very favorable relationship with equities. Historically, when equity markets fell, bonds had gone up in value, partially offsetting the fall. When equity markets rise, interestingly, high quality bonds also tend to rise, although to a lesser extent. Therefore for an investor with equity portfolio wanting to reduce portfolio volatility or make the portfolio less susceptible to a fall in equity markets bonds are the most appropriate. Bonds generally pay a much higher income than high quality government and corporate bonds to compensate for higher risk. Similar to equities, bonds tend to perform best when economic growth is strong with low stable interest rates. In such an environment the ability of these companies to pay interest and repay their bonds on the maturity date is greatly enhanced. [Z. Bodie, 2000] Investment in bonds and equities, usually via stock-markets and other exchanges for financial instruments. So-called "portfolio investment" is usually relatively easy to re-sell; hence this type of investment can flow relatively easily into and out of a country's stock-markets. This can lead to volatility in share-prices and levels of capital availability. What’s the difference? Equities are shares listed on the stock exchange. Their prices are influenced by the underlying performance of the companies, the sectors in which they operate ...
1. There are many different cultures in the world in which we live today, and it is important for any organisation planning to globalise their firm to know and understand the cultural differences that occur between nations. This theory is specifically important when it comes to two firms operating in different countries decide to merge to become one, as is the case with Upjohn and Pharmacia. The differences that became apparent during this merger were important as they affected the way business was conducted, in a negative way.
There are many different investments that an individual can choose to invest funds in. Securities are stocks, bonds, options, futures, and swaps. Stocks represent ownership and can range from very risky stocks (penny stocks) to relatively safe dividend stocks. Choosing the right stock to invest in can seem like a complicated process, but to simplify it, there is one golden rule that an investor can implement to get started: “select the investment vehicles that offer the highest return for the level of risk that you’re comfortable with.”
Bernanke, B. (2009, January 13). The Crisis and the Policy Response. Speech at the Stamp Lecture, London School of Economic, London, England. Retrieved from http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20090113a.htm
During the economic and market uncertainties, investors may rotate their funds out of stocks and into the relative safety of bonds
(a) Bonds are considered as debt instrument or interest-bearing security in financial market. There are some characteristic of bonds and rules that Lim need to aware before he invests it because all of the factors can determine the value of a bond and the extent to which it fit to the portfolio.
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